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Ireland's Child Care Institutions during the 20th. Century. Fo'T: The most vivid and passionate stories - banished babies, cruel orphanages, old abuses of power - have concerned things that went unnoticed, or at least unarticulated, at the time. News has often had to be redefined, not as the latest sensation but as that which everybody knew all along yet could not say.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Abused men at risk of suicide, warns One In Four

A large number of men who were sexually abused in the past are at risk from suicide, a support group said today. One in Four said the percentage of men contacting its service for help was one of the highest in the world, with men accounting for 61% of all the individuals engaged in psychotherapy. "We see the impact of sexual violence can be self harm or actual suicide attempts," said director Colm O'Gorman. "Particularly when you look at the high level of male suicide, it's terribly important we encourage men, young and old, to come forward and seek support."

Since the launch of the Ferns report into the handling of allegations of clerical sexual abuse, the number of calls to One in Four has increased by 70% and the number of visits to its website has increased by as much as 400%. The group's annual report published today showed that it had delivered 3,440 one-to-one psychotherapy sessions to 235 people, an increase of 61% on the previous year. "Each and every day we witness the extraordinary courage and potential of those whom we work to support," said Mr O'Gorman. Around 93% of the abuse reported in the psychotherapy sessions was perpetrated by men, with women accounting for just 7%.

The most common type of abuse was clerical at 29% with 20% occurring within the family, 13% in the extended family and 10% from strangers.

The One in Four website recorded 3.4 million hits last year, with 40% of these coming from North America and 4% from Australia. "Many people left so-called care from those institutions with the determination they would never go back, so it's not surprising that so many people from overseas are engaging in that way," said Mr O'Gorman.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous10:49 PM

    "Many people left so-called care from those institutions with the determination they would never go back" .. so said Colm O'Gorman, last December.

    Well, he's gone back to HIS roots now, via the Progressive Democrats!

    ReplyDelete

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